Mt. Pleasant lawyer disbarred for stealing money

A Mt. Pleasant lawyer who practiced for 11 years has been disbarred by the State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.

A hearing panel originally recommended that lawyer Mark J. Tyslenko’s license simply be suspended for 45 days, but the attorney discipline board imposed the full sanction of revoking Tyslenko’s license.

According to discipline board documents, Tyslenko kept a total of $9,200 in fees paid to him by clients. The money was supposed to go to the law firm that employed him at the time.

“This is an unfortunate case,” the members of the discipline board wrote. “(Tyslenko), an II-year practitioner with an otherwise clean record and some support in his legal community, made a series of bad decisions, which are entirely inconsistent with the most basic character requirements of a lawyer.”

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The board’s documents indicated that during 2009 and 2010, Tyslenko had run into financial difficulties. He was having trouble paying his mortgage, as well as medical and other bills for members of his family.

Tyslenko, who was working for the Joseph T. Barberi P.C. law firm at the time, admitted taking client payments on five separate occasions but failing to turn them over to the firm. Tyslenko was dismissed from the Barberi firm in October 2010, then went into solo practice.

He saw a counselor, who blamed his actions on an adjustment disorder brought on by the financial strains and pressure. The counselor, whose name was not contained in the board’s decision, said Tyslenko was not likely to do it again.

“He’s become transparent,” the counselor wrote. “He’s implemented healthy communication skills, incorporated people into his life to hold him accountable.”

Among other things, Tyslenko hired an accountant and got a mentor.

The hearing panel noted his “otherwise unblemished record as a lawyer” and recommended a sanction far less than disbarment. But the full board said in similar cases in Michigan and in other states, the proper sanction was disbarment.

“We do not minimize the tribulations (Tyslenkl) suffered at the time he committed his misconduct,” the discipline board wrote. “Banks do not rehire crooked tellers.”

The decision was filed May 13.

Tyslenko declined to comment on his case.

Mark Ranzenberger is online editor of TheMorningSun.com. Follow the Ranzenblog at ranzenblog.blogspot.com.